Top 5 Agents in the world of sports
The relatively modern yet highly influential person in the sports fraternity - a Sports Agent. These days, it’s all about glamourisation and commercialization by branding oneself, and sport-stars often hire people to do it for them.
A sports agent is a person who procures and negotiates employment and endorsement contracts for an athlete. His primary role is to negotiate and broker contracts on behalf of players with their respective teams and extract the best possible deal and compensation for their clients. Along with this, agents market the athletes, help them with endorsement deals and promote an athlete’s career. Their other responsibilities include handling of their client’s public relations, providing them guidance and recommendations on the best possible future course of action as well as taking care of their legal interests.
Sports Agents are often well paid individuals, generally earning between 4 and 10% of the athlete’s playing contract, and 10 to 20% of the athlete’s endorsement contract. These figures may vary in different sports, according to the rules of the governing bodies.
Below is a list of some of the popular and seasoned agents who handle the “Big Name” clients of the sports world:
1. Tom Condon
Named the most influential and powerful agent in the NFL, the former New England Patriots player is one of the most respected and dependable agents in American Football. He is the go-to man for any young Football player. He uses his deep connections in the NFL to retain top draft picks year after year. His list of clients includes 2012 MVP Eli Manning, Peyton Manning, Tony Romo and a host of other NFL stars.
2. Rob Pelinka
He is almost tailor made for the sports industry. Known for his quick thinking and decision making as well as possessing a degree in American law, he is one of the top agents in the NBA. He is the president and CEO of the Landmark Sports Agency and represents 18 NBA players, including the highest paid NBA player Kobe Bryant and a list of other NBA stars like Andre Igoudala and Carlos Boozer.
3. Scott Boras
He is one of the most hated men in Baseball but a real magician when it comes to negotiating contract deals for most of his high profile clients. He is responsible for three of the the decade’s top deals and negotiated the biggest sports contract ever for Alex Rodriguez. He is undoubtedly the most powerful man in Baseball. He is the founder, owner and president of the Boras Corporation which represents more than 150 Players. He boasts of clients like Alex Rodriguez, Mark Teixeira, Matt Holliday etc.
4. Jorge Mendes
This super agent from Portugal is one of the most influential agents in World Football. He is known to be extremely shrewd and selective with his business deals and has managed to keep every one of his clients extremely happy. He is the founder of gestiFute, and represents some of the biggest names in the sport. His list of super star clients includes Jose Mourinho, Luiz Felipe Scolari, Cristiano Ronaldo, Luis Nani, Radamel Falco and many others.
5. Andrew Chandler
This former golfer started his management career with an initial £10,000 capital in the form of an overdraft in the backroom of the Mere Golf Club and is now one of the biggest agents in Golf, cricket and snooker. He was the pioneer of golfing agents and did not hesitate to take his idea on to the next level and has always found success. He is the current managing director of International Sports Management (ISM).
The clients of ISM include some of the best players from their respective sports, like former world number 1 Lee Westwood, Muttiah Muralitharan, Andrew Flintoff, Paul Collingwood, Stephen Hendry and a host of other stars.
Notable Mentions:
Paul Stretford – Wayne Rooney
Pini Zahavi – Rio Ferdinand, Carlos Tevez
Peter Carlisle – Michael Phelps, Natalie Coughlin
Leon Rose – LeBron James, Dwight Howard